Overhead wall light



Feb. 20, 1962 R. L. ROBERTS OVERHEAD WALL LIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 2, 1959 /Nl E N TOR: flmifizfla, lav 9 K 7 1! f v A TTORNEKS'.

Feb. 20, 1962 R. L. ROBERTS OVERHEAD WALL LIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJuly 2, 1959 ATTORNEYS.

3,022,416 OVERHEAD WALL LIGHT Ross L. Roberts, Wilmette, Ill., assignorto American Hospital Supply Corporation, Evanston, Ill., a corporationof Illinois Filed .luly 2, 1959, Ser. No. 824,765 Claims. (Cl. 240-43)This invention relates to an overhead wall light, and more specifically,to a light fixture particularly adapted for mounting upon a wall above apatents bed in a hospital, clinic, etc.

One of the objects of the present invention is top-rovide a patientswall light which is compact and attractive in appearance, and whichovercomes major defects and disadvantages of light fixtures presentlyused in hospitals, clinics, and the like. Specifically, it is an objectof the present invention to provide a light fixture which, upon propermounting on a wall above a patients bed, will provide abundantillumination for reading while at the same time will not throw lightdirectly into the eyes of people in other parts of the room and Will notshine dirmtly into the eyes of the patient should he glance upwardly atthe fixture. Another object is to provide a wall-mounted bed light whichprojects light downwardly in such a way as to eliminate or greatlyreduce shadows about an ar ticle as it is being examined by a personlying in bed. A further object is to provide a wall-mounted bed lightwhich is easily maintained and which may be readily opened for removaland cleaning of parts, replacement of bulbs, etc. -'A still furtherobject is to provide a wall light adapted to illuminate a large but welldefined area about a bed, thereby reducing the possibility of eye strainwhich might otherwise result from a sharp contrast between a narrow zoneof illumination and the surrounding unlighted area.

Other objects will appear from the specification an drawings, in which'FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating the light fixture of thepresent invention in mounted condition upon a wall and above a hospitalbed;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the fixture partially showing theunder surface thereof and illustrating the hinged cover in partly raisedcondition;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the top construction of thefixture;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view of the walllight fixture;

; FIGURE 5 is a top plan view ofthe fixture partly broken away toillustrate the internal construction thereof;

FIGURE 6 is a front elevation of the fixture-partly broken away toillustrate details of the internal construction thereof.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, thenumeral 10 generally designates a wall light fixture comprising anenclosure having a front wall 11, rear wall 12, end walls 13, bottomwall 14 and top wall or cover 15. The front and rear walls extend alongspaced vertical planes and are horizontally elongated. As shown in thedrawings, all of the walls are generally rectangular in shape. They maybe formed from metal, opaque or translucent plastic, or any othersuitable nontransparent material.

As shown most clearly in FIGURE 4, the lower end of front wall 11projects downwardly and is then turned rearwardly and upwardly to definea free bottom portion 16. The bottom wall has a rear portion 17 whichlies along susbtantially the same horizontal plane as the free bottomportion 16 of the front wall and also has a front portion 18 whichmerges with rear portion 17 and which slopes forwardly and upwardly,terminating intermediate ice the upper and lower ends of front wall 11.At its forward end, the bottom wall 14 is provided with an upstandingflange 19 which is spot welded or otherwise secured to the rear face ofthe front wall. Similarly, the ends, front and rear walls may be securedtogether to form a rigid enclosure by spot welding or by any othersuitable means. It will be noted that the upper portion of the rear walland the vertical leg of the L-shaped strip 20 secured thereto areprovided with aligned apertures 21 extending therethrough for attachmentof the enclosure to a wall surface by screws, bolts, or any other ap-'ropriate connecting means. It will also be noted that the rear wall 12and the bottom wall 14 are integrally formed from the same piece ofsheet material.

A vertical partition 22 extends within the enclosure between end walls13 and divides the interior of the. enclosure into front and rearcompartments 23 and 24.

The rear compartment houses an elongated fluorescent light tube 25carried by fittings 26 secured to an inverted U-s'naped platform 27.Platform 27 is in turn detachably secured by bolts 28m a pair ofinverted U-shaped straps 29 which have their lower ends permanentlysecured to the upper face of bottom wall 14. A ballast 30 for thefluorescent fixture is mounted beneath the tube in the space defined byU-shaped platform 27. Compartment 24 is closed at the top by a pair oftransparent plastic cover plates 3.1 whichhave their longitudinal edgeportions resting upon the horizontal flanges of strips 20 and 32 andwhich have their remote end portions extending beneath the inwardlyturned top flanges 33 of end walls The cover plates may be removed forcleaning or for replacement of tube 25 by simply flexing the centrallydisposed end of one of the plates upwardly and then sliding both platesinwardly to release their outer edges from beneath end flanges 33.

Access to the front compartment 23 is achieved by lifting the top wallor cover 15 which has its front edge hingedly connected to a rearwardlyprojecting flange 34 along the top of front .wall 11. Thus, the cover 15may be lifted in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2 and,

when in closed position (FIGURES 35), rests upon the.

inwardly turned flanges 33 of the end walls 13. Vents 35 may be providedin the cover for the circulation of air through front compartment 23.

Within compartment 23 are a pair of incandescent light elements or bulbs36 carried by socket fittings 37 which are mounted upon the innersurfaces of end walls 13. Hence, bulbs 36 are spaced apart at oppositeends of the enclosure and, as shown most clearly in FIGURES 4 and 5, arespaced a substantial distance behind front wall 11. Since the bulbs arelocated in the front compartment, they are also spaced well in front ofrear wall 12 and the Wall surface to which the entire fixture isconnected.

At opposite ends of the sloping front portion 18 of the bottom wall area pair of rectangular openings 38 (FIG- URES 2 and 4). it will be seenthat each of the openings 38 is disposed in front of, rather thandirectly below, bulb 36. That part of front portion 18 disposed directlybehind each of the openings provides a light barrier which preventslight rays from passing straight downwardly from the bulbs.

A pair of light-concentrating lenses 39 are supported in inclinedpositions upon front portion 18 and are held Referring particularly toFIGURE 4,,

a those bulbs. As shown in FIGURE 4, each of the refiectors has itsforward edge portion secured by screws 44 to the hinged cover so thatwhen the cover is lifted the reflectors will be carried upwardly toexpose the bulbs. It is believed apparent, therefore, that the directmounting of the reflectors upon the cover greatly facilitates theremoval and replacement of the incandescent bulbs and simplifies the jobof cleaning or replacing any of the parts contained within the forwardcompartment.

Operation of the incandescent and fluorescent lights is controlled by athree-way switch 45 equipped with a pull chain 46. By selectiveoperation of this switch, both the incandescent and fluorescent lightsmay be turned on for maximum direct and indirect illumination, or theincandescent and fluorescent lights may be operated separately foreither direct or indirect lighting. When only the fluorescent tube islighted, the soft and indirect illumination renders the unitparticularly suitable for use as a night light.

If desired, the fixture may be provided with a convenient outlet 47 forthe connection of electric shavers and other devices which patients maywish to use, and for the connection of electrically operated devices andimplements used by doctors, attendants, etc.

-An important aspect of the present invention lies in the fact thatelements or bulbs 36 are mounted in such a way that excellent lightingis achieved without causing discomfort for either the patient recliningin bed beneath the fixture or for other persons in different parts ofthe room. Referring to FIGURE 1, it is believed apparent that the beamsof light emanating from opposite ends of fixture 10 and indicated bybroken lines 4% fully illuminate an area circumscribing the head portionof bed 49 and that because the beams from the two sources overlap,shadows that would otherwise arise if there was only a single lightsource are eliminated or greatly reduced.

The lower portion of the front wall 11 which extends downwardly belowthe front edges of the lenses 3%, as well as the end walls 13 and theareas of bottom wall portions 18 to the rear of openings 38, constituteopaque or non-transparent light barriers which prevent light fromshining directly in the eyes of persons in other parts of the room. Thisis particularly important in a hospital ward where some patients, lyingin bed in other parts of the room, may wish to sleep and would obviouslybe disturbed by light shining directly upon them. In addition, the frontportion 18 directly below the bulbs 36 obstructs rays of light whichwould otherwise shine directly into the eyes of a patient reclining inbed 4% should he glance upwardly, or towards the face of a patient lyingin another bed in side-by-side relation with bed i9.

While in the foregoing, an embodiment of the present invention has beendisclosed in considerable detail for purposes of illustration, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art that many of these details maybe varied widely without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

, I claim:

1. A light fixture adapted to be mounted upon a wall behind a bedcomprising an enclosure having a non-transparent and substantiallyvertical front wall and having a bottom wall providing a horizontal rearportion at substantially the same elevation as the lower edge of saidfront wall and providing an upwardly sloping front portion terminatingintermediate the top and bottom of said front wall, a light elementwithin said enclosure spaced above the sloping front portion of saidbottom Wall and spaced behind said front wall, said sloping frontportion having a lens opening disposed forwardly of said light els andhaving a non-transparent light barrier portion di rectly below saidlight element, and a reflector mounted within said enclosure andextending behind and above said element for reflecting light throughsaid opening, the lower portion of said front wall extending downwardlybelow said opening to provide a second light barrier in front of saidelement, whereby, said element is concealed by said barriers from anobserver directly beneath or directly in front of said light element ofsaid fixture.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said enclosure is provided with ahinged top wall, said reflector being mounted upon said top wall andbeing swingable upwardly with said top wall for exposing said lightelement from above when the top wall is raised.

3. A light fixture adapted to be mounted upon a wall above the head of abed comprising an enclosure having opaque front and bottom walls, saidbottom wall having a horizontal rear portion at substantially the sameelevation as the lower edge of said front wall and having an upwardlyand forwardly sloping front portion terminating intermediate the top andbottom of said front wall, a pair of spaced light elements mountedwithin said enclosure above said sloping front portion and spaced behindsaid front wall, said sloping front portion having a pair oflight-passage openings disposed forwardly of said lightelements andhaving a light barrier portion disposed between said openings, a pair oflight-concentrating lenses mounted oversaid openings and extending alongthe sloping plane of said front wall, and reflector means mounted withinsaid enclosure for reflecting light downwardly and forwardly throughsaid lenses and openings, said front wall having a lower portionextending downwardly beneath said openings and lenses to provide afrontal light barrier and said front portion of said bottom wallproviding a lower light barrier directly beneath said elements.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said enclosure is provided with ahinged cover, said reflector means being mounted upon said cover andbeing swingable upwardly with said cover for exposing light elementsfrom above when the hinged cover is raised.

5. A light fixture adapted to be mounted upon a wall behind a bedcomprising an enclosure having a non-transparent and substantiallyvertical front wall and having a bottom wall providing a horizontal rearportion at substantially the same elevation as the lower edge of saidfront wall, said bottom wall also providing an upwardly sloping frontportion terminating intermediate the top and bottom of said front wall,a light element within said enclosure spaced above the sloping frontportion of said bottom wall and spaced behind said front wall, saidsloping front portion having a lens opening disposed forwardly of saidlight element and having a non-transparent light barrier portiondirectly below said light element, on upwardly and forwardly slopinglight-concentrating lens extending over said lens opening within saidenclosure and having its lower rear edge disposed at an elevation abovethe lower edge .of said front wall, and a reflector mounted Within saidenclosure and extending behind and above said element for reflectinglight through said opening and said lens, the lower porton of said frontwall extending downwardly below said opening to provide a second lightbarrierin front of said light element and said lens, whereby, saidelement is concealed by said barriers from an observer directly beneathor directly in front of said fixture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,786,787 Steinmeyer Dec. 30, 1930 2,244,738 Alrn June 10, 19412,642,523 Wince June 16, 1953 2,732,484 Lipscomb Ian. 24, 1956

